Snow mucks up Twin Cities commute, cold sticking until Friday

Motorists awoke Wednesday to frigid temperatures and just enough overnight snowfall to make for messy road conditions.

Roads metro-wide clogged almost immediately.

Shortly before 8 a.m., crashes and spinouts dotted major interchanges and backups doubled and tripled many commute times, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

A semi jackknifed on southbound Interstate 35 shortly after 3 a.m. near Lakeville and by 7 a.m., northbound Minnesota 100 near the westbound Minnesota 62 exit in Edina was all but a parking lot. Westbound Minnesota 36 in Roseville and southbound I-35E in downtown St. Paul were also clogged for most of the early morning hours.

Conditions aren't likely to get any better as Wednesday rolls along -- blowing snow will hamper visibility starting around 10 a.m. and the high temperature isn't expected to escape single digits.

Gusts of wind topping 20 mph are expected to drop wind chill values to minus 20 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.